Mobile wireless communication terminals, systems, methods, and computer program products for managing playback of song files

ABSTRACT

A mobile wireless communication terminal includes a wireless communication module that is configured to communicate with other communication terminals over a wireless interface, and a controller. The controller is configured to establish a connection with at least one participant wireless communication terminal via the wireless communication module, to receive from the at least one participant wireless communication terminal an identification of a compliant song file stored on the at least one participant wireless communication terminal and having a metadata tag associated therewith indicating that the compliant song file is classified in a prescribed song file category, and to execute playback of the compliant song file.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a divisional application of and claimspriority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/435,023, filed May 16,2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to electronic devices and, moreparticularly, to electronic devices, methods and computer programproducts for playing song files.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mobile electronic devices, such as wireless communication terminals(e.g., cellular telephones), are widely used to store and playback songfiles. A user may wish to play a song file on another device such as amedia center (e.g., a PC or laptop, a television, an audio receiver,etc.) or another wireless communication terminal. This may beaccomplished by connecting the electronic device to the other device viaa cable or a wireless link (e.g., a Bluetooth connection) if the otherdevice is equipped with a suitable communication module, which may be anintegrated module or an auxiliary (e.g., plug-in) module. Song files maybe sent, one by one, from one or more mobile electronic devices to theplayback device(s).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to some embodiments of the present invention, a mobilewireless communication terminal includes a wireless communication modulethat is configured to communicate with other communication terminalsover a wireless interface, and a controller. The controller isconfigured to establish a connection with at least one participantwireless communication terminal via the wireless communication module,to receive from the at least one participant wireless communicationterminal an identification of a compliant song file stored on the atleast one participant wireless communication terminal and having ametadata tag associated therewith indicating that the compliant songfile is classified in a prescribed song file category, and to executeplayback of the compliant song file.

The controller may be configured to establish a connection with aplurality of participant wireless communication terminals via thewireless communication module, and to receive identifications ofcompliant songs from at least two of the plurality of participantwireless communication terminals.

According to some embodiments, the controller is configured to establisha connection with a plurality of participant wireless communicationterminals via the wireless communication module, and to execute playbackof the compliant song file simultaneously on the plurality ofparticipant wireless communication terminals.

The controller may be configured to retrieve the compliant song filefrom the at least one participant wireless communication terminal forplayback.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the wirelesscommunication module is configured to communicate with othercommunication terminals over a direct point-to-point wireless interface,and the controller is configured to establish the connection with the atleast one participant wireless communication terminal via the wirelesscommunication module via the direct point-to-point wireless interface,and to receive the identification of a compliant song file from the atleast one participant wireless communication terminal via the directpoint-to-point wireless interface. The wireless communication module maycomprise a Bluetooth transmitter. The wireless communication terminalmay include a cellular telephone.

According to further embodiments of the present invention, a mobilewireless communication terminal includes a wireless communication modulethat is configured to communicate with other communication terminalsover a wireless interface, and a controller. The controller isconfigured to establish a connection with at least one participantwireless communication terminal via the wireless communication module,to maintain a list of nominated song files, to receive at least one votemessage from the at least one participant wireless communicationterminal, to determine an elected song file from the list of nominatedsong files based on the at least one vote message, and to executeplayback of the elected song file.

According to some embodiments, the controller is configured to receivean identification of a nominated song file from the at least oneparticipant wireless communication terminal, and to add theidentification of the nominated song file to the list of nominated songfiles.

According to some embodiments, the controller is configured to establisha connection with a plurality of participant wireless communicationterminals via the wireless communication module, and to receive votemessages from at least two of the plurality of participant wirelesscommunication terminals.

The controller may be configured to establish a connection with aplurality of participant wireless communication terminals via thewireless communication module, and to execute playback of the electedsong file simultaneously on the plurality of participant wirelesscommunication terminals.

The controller may be configured to retrieve the elected song file fromthe at least one participant wireless communication terminal forplayback.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the wirelesscommunication module is configured to communicate with othercommunication terminals over a direct point-to-point wireless interface,and the controller is configured to establish the connection with the atleast one participant wireless communication terminal via the wirelesscommunication module via the direct point-to-point wireless interface,and to receive the at least one vote message from the at least oneparticipant wireless communication terminal via the directpoint-to-point wireless interface. The wireless communication module maycomprise a Bluetooth transmitter. The wireless communication terminalmay include a cellular telephone.

According to further embodiments of the present invention, a mobilewireless communication terminal includes a wireless communication modulethat is configured to communicate with other communication terminalsover a wireless interface, and a controller. The controller isconfigured to establish a connection with at least one participantwireless communication terminal via the wireless communication module,and to send at least one light effect signal to the at least oneparticipant wireless communication terminal instnicting the at least oneparticipant wireless communication terminal to control at least onelighting device of the at least one participant wireless communicationterminal in correspondence with playback of a song file.

According to some embodiments, the controller is configured to establisha connection with a plurality of participant wireless communicationterminals via the wireless communication module, and to send lighteffect signals to each of the plurality of participant wirelesscommunication terminals instructing each of the plurality of participantwireless communication terminals to control a lighting device thereof incorrespondence with playback of the song file.

According to some embodiments, the controller may be configured to sendlight effect signals to each of the plurality of participant wirelesscommunication terminals instructing the plurality of participantwireless communication terminals to control the lighting devices thereofdifferently from one another.

The controller may be configured to send light effect signals to each ofthe plurality of participant wireless communication terminals so as tocause the plurality of participant wireless communication terminals todisplay on respective displays thereof an image that moves over timefrom the display of a first of the plurality of participant wirelesscommunication terminals to the display of a second of the plurality ofparticipant wireless communication terminals.

According to some embodiments, the controller is configured to sendlight effect signals to each of the plurality of participant wirelesscommunication terminals so as to cause a lighting device of a first ofthe plurality of participant wireless communication terminals to respondto audio signals in a first audio frequency range and to cause alighting device of a second of the plurality of participant wirelesscommunication terminals to respond to audio signals in a second audiofrequency range different from the first audio frequency range.

The controller may be configured to execute playback of the song filesimultaneously on the plurality of participant wireless communicationterminals.

According to some embodiments, the wireless communication module isconfigured to communicate with other communication terminals over adirect point-to-point wireless interface, and the controller isconfigured to establish the connection with the at least one participantwireless communication terminal via the wireless communication modulevia the direct point-to-point wireless interface, and to send the atleast one light effect signal to the at least one participant wirelesscommunication terminal via the direct point-to-point wireless interface.The wireless communication module may comprise a Bluetooth transmitter.The wireless communication terminal may include a cellular telephone.

Further features, advantages and details of the present invention willbe appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art from a reading ofthe figures and the detailed description of the preferred embodimentsthat follow, such description being merely illustrative of the presentinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a mobile wireless communicationterminal according to some embodiments of the present invention and anexemplary base station transceiver.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating methods in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a song file playback system accordingto some embodiments of the present invention including the mobilewireless communication terminal of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a song file playback system accordingto further embodiments of the present invention including the mobilewireless communication terminal of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a song file playback system accordingto further embodiments of the present invention including the mobilewireless communication terminal of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display of the mobilewireless communication terminal of FIG. 1 in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating methods in accordance with furtherembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating methods in accordance with furtherembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a song file playback system accordingto further embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 10A-C are schematic diagrams of a system according to embodimentsof the present invention illustrating an animation sequence displayed onthree mobile wireless communication terminals of the system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention now will be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention areshown. However, this invention should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Likenumbers refer to like elements throughout.

As used herein, the term “comprising” or “comprises” is open-ended, andincludes one or more stated features, integers, elements, steps,components or functions but does not preclude the presence or additionof one or more other features, integers, elements, steps, components,functions or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items.

As used herein, the common abbreviation “e.g.”, which derives from theLatin phrase “exempli gratia,” may be used to introduce or specify ageneral example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is notintended to be limiting of such item. If used herein, the commonabbreviation “i.e.”, which derives from the Latin phrase “id est,” maybe used to specify a particular item from a more general recitation.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“coupled” or “connected” to another element, it can be directly coupledor connected to the other element or intervening elements may also bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlycoupled” or “directly connected” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Furthermore, “coupled” or “connected” asused herein may include wirelessly coupled or connected.

Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail forbrevity and/or clarity.

The present invention may be embodied as methods, electronic devices,and/or computer program products. Accordingly, the present invention maybe embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, residentsoftware, micro-code, etc.), which may be generally referred to hereinas a “circuit” or “module”. Furthermore, the present invention may takethe form of a computer program product on a computer-usable orcomputer-readable storage medium having computer-usable orcomputer-readable program code embodied in the medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system. In the context of thisdocument, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be anymedium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport theprogram for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device.

Embodiments according to the present invention are described withreference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations of methodsand communication terminals. In this regard, each block may represent amodule, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or moreexecutable instructions for implementing the specified logicalfunction(s). It is to be understood that each block of the blockdiagrams and/or operational illustrations, and combinations of blocks inthe block diagrams and/or operational illustrations, can be implementedby radio frequency, analog and/or digital hardware, and/or programinstructions. These program instructions may be provided to acontroller, which may include one or more general purpose processors,special purpose processors, ASICs, and/or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, such that the instructions, which execute via thecontroller and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, createmeans for implementing the functions/acts specified in the blockdiagrams and/or operational block or blocks. In some alternateimplementations, the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out ofthe order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantiallyconcurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computeror other programmable data processing apparatus to function in aparticular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computerusable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufactureincluding instructions that implement the function specified in theflowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example butnot limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagationmedium. More specific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of thecomputer-readable medium include the following: hard disks, opticalstorage devices, a transmission media such as those supporting theInternet or an intranet, magnetic storage devices, an electricalconnection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,and a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM).

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentinvention may be written in an object oriented programming language suchas Java®, Smalltalk or C++. However, the computer program code forcarrying out operations of the present invention may also be written inconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language and/or a lower level assembler language. It will befurther appreciated that the functionality of any or all of the programmodules may also be implemented using discrete hardware components, oneor more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or aprogrammed digital signal processor or microcontroller.

As used herein, “electronic component” means an active device ascontrasted with a passive electrical connector or the like. Anelectronic component may include a processor.

As used herein, “streamed” or “streaming” means that a file, such as anaudio or song file, is continuously sent via a digital signal to areceiving device where the audio or song file is concurrently played viaa suitable receiving application. The digital signal is typicallybuffered.

As used herein, a “communication terminal” includes, but is not limitedto, a terminal that is configured to receive/transmit communicationsignals via a wireline connection, such as via a public-switchedtelephone network (PSTN), digital subscriber line (DSL), digital cable,or another data connection/network, and/or via a wireless interfacewith, for example, a cellular network, a satellite network, a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), and/or another communication terminal.

When the communication terminal is configured to communicate over awireless interface, it is referred to herein as a “wirelesscommunication terminal” or a “wireless terminal.” Examples of wirelessterminals include, but are not limited to, a cellular telephone,personal data assistant (PDA), pager, and/or a computer that isconfigured to communicate data over a wireless communication interfacethat can include a cellular telephone interface, a Bluetooth interface,a wireless local area network interface (e.g., 802.11), another RFcommunication interface, and/or an optical/infra-red communicationinterface.

As used herein, “mobile terminals” may be portable, transportable,installed in a vehicle (aeronautical, maritime, or land-based), orsituated and/or configured to operate locally and/or in a distributedfashion at any other location(s) on earth and/or in space.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary mobile wireless communicationterminal 10A in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention is illustrated. The wireless terminal 10A is configured tocommunicate data with one or more other wireless terminals over a directwireless communication interface therebetween, over another wirelesscommunication interface through one or more cellular base stations,and/or over another wireless communication interface through a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) router.

The wireless terminal 10A may be a mobile radiotelephone forming a partof a radiotelephone communication system 2 as illustrated in FIG. 1. Thesystem 2 includes the mobile wireless communication terminal 10A and abase station transceiver, which is part of a wireless communicationsnetwork 5. In some embodiments of the present invention, the network 5includes a base station transceiver that includes the radiotransceiver(s) that define an individual cell in a cellular network andcommunicates with the mobile terminal 10A (via an interface 7) and othermobile terminals in the cell using a radio-link protocol. It will beunderstood that, in some embodiments of the present invention, many basestation transceivers may be connected through, for example, a mobileswitching center and other devices to define the wireless communicationsnetwork 5.

The mobile terminal 10A in the illustrated embodiments includes aportable housing assembly 12, a display 20, a user interface 22 (i.e., aman machine interface (MMI)) including a speaker 24 (i.e., a soundtransducer), an audio player 26, a controller 30, a communication module32, a memory 34, and a lighting device 50. The foregoing components ofthe mobile terminal 10A may be included in many conventional mobileterminals and their functionality is generally known to those skilled inthe art. The mobile terminal 10A further includes a song managementmodule 40 and a light effects management module 44, which may be storedin the memory 34. The mobile terminal 10A is capable of processing andplaying song files (e.g., MP3 files).

The display 20 may be any suitable display screen assembly. For example,the display screen 28 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) with orwithout auxiliary lighting (e.g., a lighting panel).

The user interface 22 may include any suitable input device(s)including, for example, a touch activated or touch sensitive device(e.g., a touch screen), a joystick, a keyboard/keypad, a dial, adirectional key or keys, and/or a pointing device (such as a mouse,trackball, touch pad, etc.). The speaker 24 generates sound responsiveto an input audio signal. The user interface 22 can also include amicrophone coupled to an audio processor that is configured to generatean audio data stream responsive to sound incident on the microphone.

The controller 30 may support various functions of the mobile terminal10A. The controller 30 can be any commercially available or custommicroprocessor, for example. In use, the controller 30 of the mobileterminal 10A generates a display image on the display 20. The controller30 may control the audio player 26 and various other components of themobile terminal 10A.

The memory 34 is configured to store digital information signals anddata such as a digital audio signal and/or digital audio files.

The communication module 32 is configured to communicate data over oneor more wireless interfaces (e.g., wireless interfaces 7, 112, 114, 116,122, and 134 as discussed herein (FIGS. 1 and 3)) to another remotewireless terminal as discussed herein. The communication module 32 caninclude a cellular communication module, a direct point-to-pointconnection module, and/or a WLAN module.

With a cellular communication module, the wireless terminal 10A cancommunicate via the base station(s) of the network 5 using one or morecellular communication protocols such as, for example, Advanced MobilePhone Service (AMPS), ANSI-136, Global Standard for Mobile (GSM)communication, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), enhanced data ratesfor GSM evolution (EDGE), code division multiple access (CDMA),wideband-CDMA, CDMA2000, and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS). The cellular base stations may be connected to a MobileTelephone Switching Office (MTSO) wireless network, which, in turn, canbe connected to a PSTN and/or another network.

A direct point-to-point connection module may include a direct RFcommunication module or a direct IR communication module. The direct RFcommunication module may include a Bluetooth module. With a Bluetoothmodule, the wireless terminal 10A can communicate via an ad-hoc networkthrough a direct point-to-point interface.

With a WLAN module, the wireless terminal 10A can communicate through aWLAN (e.g., a router 120 (FIG. 3)) using a communication protocol thatmay include, but is not limited to, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11e, 802.11g,and/or 802.11i.

The communication module 32 can include a transceiver typically having atransmitter circuit and a receiver circuit, which respectively transmitoutgoing radio frequency signals (e.g., to the network 5, a router ordirectly to another terminal) and receive incoming radio frequencysignals (e.g., from the network 5, a router or directly to anotherterminal), such as voice and data signals, via an antenna. Thecommunication module 32 may include a short range transmitter andreceiver, such as a Bluetooth transmitter and receiver. The antenna maybe an embedded antenna, a retractable antenna or any antenna known tothose having skill in the art without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. The radio frequency signals transmitted between themobile terminal 10A and the network 5, router or other terminal mayinclude both traffic and control signals (e.g., paging signals/messagesfor incoming calls), which are used to establish and maintaincommunication with another party or destination. The radio frequencysignals may also include packet data information, such as, for example,cellular digital packet data (CDPD) information. In addition, thetransceiver may include an infrared (IR) transceiver configured totransmit/receive infrared signals to/from other electronic devices viaan IR port.

The mobile terminal 10A may also be configured to electrically couplewith another terminal via a wireline or cable for the transmission ofdigital communication signals therebetween. The mobile terminal 10A mayinclude further components such as a camera device configured togenerate a still image and/or video data stream based on incident light.

According to some embodiments, the mobile terminal 10A is a handheldmobile terminal. By “handheld mobile terminal,” it is meant that theouter dimensions of the mobile terminal are adapted or configured andsuitable for use by a typical operator using one hand. According to someembodiments, the total volume of the handheld mobile terminal 10A isless than about 200 cc. According to some embodiments, the total volumeof the handheld terminal 10A is less than about 100 cc. According tosome embodiments, the total volume of the handheld mobile terminal 10Ais between about 50 and 100 cc. According to some embodiments, nodimension of the handheld mobile terminal 10A exceeds about 200 mm.

A method for selecting and playing back a song file using mobilewireless communication terminals (e.g., mobile terminals 10A-E)according to embodiments of the present invention will now be describedin reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2. The method includesestablishing a wireless connection between a host wireless communicationterminal and at least one participant wireless communication terminal(Block 280). The host terminal maintains a list of nominated song files(Block 282). The host terminal receives at least one vote message fromthe at least one participant terminal (Block 284). The host terminaldetermines an elected song file from the list of nominated song filesbased on the at least one vote message (Block 286). The host terminalexecutes playback of the elected song file (Block 288). According tosome embodiments, the host terminal also receives a song nomination fromthe at least one participant terminal and adds the song nomination tothe list of nominated song files. The various method steps andoperations as described herein for selecting and playing back nominatedsong files may be enabled and executed by the suitably configuredcontroller 30 and song management module 40 of the implementing mobileterminal(s).

According to some embodiments, connections are established between thehost wireless communication terminal and a plurality of participantwireless communication terminals, and the host wireless communicationterminal receives a plurality of vote messages from the plurality ofparticipant wireless communication terminals and determines the electedsong based on the plurality of vote messages.

According to some embodiments, communication between the host wirelesscommunication terminal and the participant wireless communicationterminal is accomplished via a direct point-to-point interface, such asa Bluetooth wireless RF connection. According to some embodiments,communication between the host wireless communication terminal and theparticipant wireless communication terminal is accomplished via anindirect interface, such as through a WLAN or cellular-based system.Further aspects and embodiments of the present invention will beapparent from the following descriptions of further embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 3, an exemplary song file playback system 100Aaccording to embodiments of the present invention is shown therein. Thesystem 100A includes the mobile wireless communication terminal 10A(also referred to herein as the “host wireless communication terminal”or “host terminal”), a plurality of additional participant wirelesscommunication terminals 10B, 10C, 10D, and 10E (also referred to hereinas the “participant wireless communication terminals” or “participantterminals”), and a media center 130. The media center 130 includesapparatus adapted or configured to convert an audio signal (e.g., adigital audio signal) to corresponding sound. The media center 130 mayinclude, for example, a PC or laptop, a television, an audio receiver,stereo equipment, etc. The illustrated media center 130 includes awireless communication module 132 and sound transducers (speakers) 136.The wireless communication module 132 may be integrated with the mediacenter 130 or may be an auxiliary or plug-in wireless communicationmodule such as the Bluetooth Media Viewer MMV-100 module or BluetoothMedia Viewer MMV-200 module, each available from Sony Ericsson ofSweden. The terminals 10B-E may be configured as described above withregard to the terminal 10A. The terminals 10B-E each include a wirelesscommunication module 32 and a song management module 40. However, therespective song management modules 40 may be differently configured foreach terminal 10A-E depending on the intended functionality of thedevice. According to some embodiments, all or some of the terminals10B-E are mobile wireless communication terminals. According to someembodiments, all or some of the terminals 10A-E are handheld mobilewireless communication terminals.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a further exemplary system 100B according toembodiments of the present invention is shown therein including the hostterminal 10A and the participant terminals 10B-E. The system 100Bdiffers from the system 100A (FIG. 3) in that the media center 130 isomitted and playback of the song files from the song play list 156 isconducted via the speaker 24 of the host terminal 10A.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a further exemplary system 100C according toembodiments of the present invention is shown therein including the hostterminal 10A and the participant terminals 10B-E. The system 100Cdiffers from the system 100B (FIG. 5) in that playback of the song filesfrom the song play list 156 is conducted via the speaker 24 of the hostterminal 10A and, additionally, through the respective speakers of theparticipant terminals 10B-E and/or through one or more headsets (e.g.,in-ear stereo headsets) operatively connected to the terminals 10A-E.More particularly, the controller 30 of the host terminal 10A plays eachsong file thereon and also sends the song file to the participantterminals 10B-E for simultaneous playback. According to someembodiments, the playback is synchronized between the mobile terminals10A-E.

Various combinations and aspects of the exemplary systems 100A, 100B,100C may be employed and the host terminal 10A may be configured toallow the user to selectively choose the device or combination ofdevices for playback from the various options discussed above. Forexample, the host terminal 10A may be configured to execute playback viaonly the speaker 24 of the host terminal 10A, via the speakers of theparticipant terminals 10B-E but not the host terminal 10A, via thespeakers of the participant terminals 10B-E and the media center 130,etc. It will be appreciated that, when the song files are played backvia the speakers of the terminals 10A-E, the user of a given one of theparticipant terminals may disable the speaker thereof and/or may relaythe song file for playback on another device (e.g., an associatedfurther media center or the like).

Mobile terminals, methods and systems in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention will now be described using an illustrativeexample of use. The host terminal 10A is chosen to be the master or hostterminal and the participant terminals 10B-E are each designated asslave or participant terminals. The controller 30 of the host terminal10A establishes a wireless connection (i.e., communicatively couples)with each of the participant terminals 10B-E. According to someembodiments, the wireless connection is a direct wireless communicationinterface connection, according to some embodiments, a direct RFconnection and, according to some embodiments, a Bluetooth connection.The connections may be established in known manner. For example, in thecase of Bluetooth connections, the participant (slave) terminals 10B-Emay be set to a searchable/discoverable state and the host (master)terminal 10A emits an inquiry to identify the available participant(slave) terminals 10B-E to form a piconet or personal area network.

As illustrated, in the system 100A (FIG. 3) the host terminal 10Acommunicates with the participant terminals 10B, 10C and 10D via directpoint-to-point wireless interfaces or links 112, 114 and 116,respectively, and with the participant terminal 10E via wirelessinterfaces or links 118, 122 through a WLAN router 120. In the systems100B (FIG. 4) and 100C (FIG. 5), the host terminal 10A communicates withthe participant terminals 10B-E via direct point-to-point links 112,114, 116, 119. In the case of the system 100A, the host terminal 10A isalso communicatively coupled to the media center 130 to provide wirelesssong data signals via a wireless interface or link 134 to thecommunication module 132. Alternatively, the host terminal 10A can beconnected to the media center 130 using a wireline or signal cable. Itwill be appreciated that, according to some embodiments, the interfacesmay be various combinations of wireless interfaces that are direct(e.g., Bluetooth) or indirect (e.g., via a WLAN router or a cellularnetwork 5). According to some contemplated embodiments, all of thesignals provided between the host terminal 10A and the participantterminals 10B-E to execute the song sharing procedure are provided viadirect point-to-point wireless interfaces. According to somecontemplated embodiments, all of the signals provided between the hostterminal 10A and the participant terminals to execute the song sharingprocedure are provided via direct wireless radio frequency (RF)interfaces such as Bluetooth interfaces.

Before or after establishing the connections, the host terminal 10A mayidentify and designate valid participant terminals by any suitablemethod. According to some embodiments, the host terminal 10A will pollor send an invitation to all or a selected group of potentialparticipant terminals (e.g., those within operational range of the hostterminal's Bluetooth signal). The potential participant terminals maythen opt in by replying with an acceptance of the invitation.Alternatively or additionally, the host terminal 10A may acceptunsolicited requests from participant terminals to participate. The hostterminal 10A may be used to define specific groups such as a listing ofthe potential participant terminals that will be permitted toparticipate (e.g., to contribute song nominations and/or votes).

Each song management module 40 provides a display 150 on the associatedterminal 10A-E as shown in FIG. 4. The display provided on the hostterminal 10A may differ from the display provided on the participantterminals 10B-E. For example, the portions of the display 150 related tomanagement functionality may be omitted from the participant terminaldisplays. Alternatively, the song management module 40 may provide nodisplay on the participant terminals 10B-E.

Once the connections are established between the host terminal 10A andthe participant terminals 10B-E, the host terminal 10A may send arequest to the participant terminals 10B-E for song file nominations.For example, the host may actuate a “NOMINATIONS” button (FIG. 6) on thedisplay 150. Each participant may use his or her respective participantterminal to send a nominee song identification to the host terminal 10A.The nominee song identification designates a song file the participantwishes to add to the nominated song list. The nominee songidentification may designate a song file stored on the participant'sterminal 10B-E. The song management module 40 of the sending participantterminal 10B-E may provide a user interface to facilitate the selectionand sending of the nominee song identification(s). For example, themodule 40 may generate a list of the available stored songs and checkboxes for selecting the song(s) to send to the host terminal 10A.Additionally or alternatively, the nominated song list may comprise songidentifications designating song files stored on the host terminal 10A.According to some embodiments, only the host terminal 10A may nominatesong files. According to some embodiments, the host terminal 10A and/orthe participant terminals 10B-E can nominate song files stored on mobileterminals other than themselves. The nominated song files constitute thenominated song list.

The host terminal 10A receives the nominee song identifications from theparticipant terminals 10B-E. The song management module 40 of the hostterminal 10A creates and maintains a host nominated song list of thesesong identifications. The host nominated song list represents song filesthat are candidates to be played.

According to some embodiments, the host terminal 10A compiles thenominated song list and sends the nominated song list to the participantterminals 10B-E for display thereon. According to some embodiments, eachof the participant terminals 10B-E receives nominations from otherparticipant terminals (and, if applicable, the host terminal 10A) anditself compiles and displays the nominated song list.

In the illustrated embodiment, the display 150 includes a play listfield 152 and control buttons 154 (e.g., soft keys). The control buttons154 will typically only be displayed on the host terminal display. Thenominated song list 156 is displayed in the play list field 152. Thenominated song list 156 includes a row-by-row series of songidentifications 156A, each corresponding to a respective song file. Asillustrated, each song identification includes a song artist, a songname, and a song play time corresponding to the associated song file, aswell as an identification of the participant that has submitted the songidentification as a nominee. It will be appreciated that more lessand/or different information An may be provided as well. A vote counterfield 156B may also be provided for each nominated song identification156A.

The host may initiate an election by actuating an “ELECTION” button(FIG. 6) on the display 150, for example. The election may be initiatedfor a single selected song, for a slate of songs less the full nominatedsong list, or for a slate including all of the nominated songs. Theparticipants can vote on the nominated song(s) using their mobileterminals 10B-E. The votes are sent as vote messages by the participantterminals 10B-E to the host terminal 10A. The host may also be enabledto vote using his or her mobile terminal 10A. The host terminal 10Acounts or tallies the vote messages and determines the “winning” or“elected” song file or files (i.e., the nominated song file or filesreceiving the most votes).

In some cases, only a single song file is elected for playback. In othercases, a plurality of nominated song files may be elected and placed ina play list in vote rank order for playback. According to someembodiments, the host terminal 10A may originally configure a play listthat is thereafter reordered by voting of the participant terminals10B-E (and, optionally, the host terminal 10A).

The host may selectively manage play of the songs represented by thesong list 156 using the control buttons 154, for example. For example,the “PLAY” and “STOP” buttons may be used to start and stop transmissionof the song files to the media center 130 and/or the audio players ofthe mobile terminals 10A-E. The “MOVE” button may be used to prioritizeor change the order of the song identifications 156A in the play list156 (i.e., to change the order in which the associated song files willbe played). The “DELETE” button may be used to delete a songidentification 156A from the play list 156. The “DETAILS” button may beused to delete a song identification 156A from the play list 156 so thatthe associated song file will not be played. The “RANDOM MIX” button maybe used to cause the host terminal 10A to execute playback of the songfiles (i.e., send the song files to the media center 130) in a random orother non-sequential order. Typically, the host terminal 10A willexecute playback of the song files in the listed sequence unless therandom or other non-sequential mode is in effect.

When the host terminal 10A is in play mode, the controller 30 of thehost terminal 10A will identify the elected song identification 156Athat is to be played. The host terminal 10A will then execute playbackof the elected song file. The host terminal 10A may execute playback byany suitable method.

According to some embodiments, the host terminal 10A will executeplayback of the elected song by sending a song file request to theparticipant terminal 10B-E that nominated the song identification toretrieve the song file corresponding to the song identification. Thecorresponding participant terminal will then send a copy of theidentified song file (which is stored on the participant terminal) tothe host terminal 10A. According to some embodiments, the participantterminal sends the song file to the host terminal 10A as a copy of thesong file that is then temporarily stored on the host terminal 10A(e.g., in the memory 34). According to other embodiments, theparticipant terminal sends the song file to the host terminal 10A as astreaming song file. According to some embodiments, the request and songfile signals between the host terminal and the participant terminal aresent wirelessly and, according to some embodiments, via a directwireless RF connection such as Bluetooth.

The controller 30 of the host terminal 10A then executes playback of theretrieved song file by sending the song file to the media center 130and/or the mobile terminals 10B-E. The song file may be stored on themedia center 130 and/or the mobile terminals 10B-E for playback.Alternatively, the song file may be streamed to the media center 130and/or the mobile terminals 10B-E, for example, as the song file isstreamed from the originating participant terminal to the host terminal10A. It may be preferable or necessary to stream the song file from theparticipant terminal to the host terminal and/or from the host terminalto the media center 130 and/or the mobile terminals 10B-E if theallocated memory space on the host terminal 10A is insufficient and/orstorage of the song file on the host terminal 10A is prevented orillegal. According to some embodiments, the song file, whether streamedor stored in whole, will be automatically erased (i.e., without userintervention) from the host terminal 10A during or after playback.

Additionally or alternatively, the host terminal 10A may executeplayback of the song file by instructing the participant terminal onwhich the selected song file is stored to play the selected song fileand/or distribute the selected song file to other devices (e.g., theother mobile terminals 10A-E and/or the media center 130) for playback.

The controller 30 of the host terminal 10A may execute the foregoingsteps for each song identification 156A in turn and automatically (i.e.,without user intervention). As the host terminal 10A runs through thesong list 156 in this fashion, the host may modify the play list 156 asdesired. Also, according to some embodiments, the participant terminals10B-E can add new nominated song identifications to the song list 156and vote on the nominated songs as the controller 30 of the hostterminal 10A runs through the play list 156. According to someembodiments, new participant terminals can join the group and submitnominee song identifications and votes as the host terminal 10A runsthrough the play list 156.

According to some embodiments, the host terminal may request nominationsand/or only add to the nominated song list nominations of song files ina prescribed song file category or categories (i.e., song files havingassociated therewith appropriate metadata tags as described herein). Forexample, the host terminal may request and limit the nominated song listto song files bearing a “disco” metadata tag.

Various further modifications to the methods and apparatus may be madein accordance with embodiments of the present invention. According tosome embodiments, some participant terminals can vote on nominated songfiles but cannot nominate song files. According to some embodiments,some participant terminals can nominate song files, but cannot vote onthe nominated song files. According to some embodiments, someparticipant terminals can nominate and/or vote, but cannot play back theelected song files (i.e., do not receive the song file from the hostterminal or the originating participant terminal). According to someembodiments, some participant terminals can play back the elected songfiles, but cannot nominate or vote.

Other functionality could also be provided. For example, the hostterminal 10A may allow the user to change the order of the songidentifications 156A according to one or more selected attributes (e.g.,contributing participant, song length, etc.). The host terminal 10A maybe configured to designate which of the participant terminals 10B-E arepermitted to add song identifications to the play list 156. Theparticipant terminals 10B-E may be enabled to edit or modify the songlist 156 in addition to adding song identifications. In this case, thehost terminal 10A may be configured to allow the host to select which ofthe participant terminals 10B-E are and are not authorized to modify thesong play list 156 (i.e., enable and disable the play list editcapability of the participant terminals).

The mobile terminals, systems, and methods as described herein canprovide a convenient and enjoyable mechanism for enabling a group ofpeople to select and play back songs. The mobile terminals, systems, andmethods can provide playback execution functionality and also allow thehost terminal (and, in some cases, the participant terminals) to create,coordinate, control and/or manage a song play list. In practice, forexample, partygoers can add songs from their own participant terminalsto a nominated song list maintained on a host terminal (e.g., the partyhost's own mobile terminal). If their song is elected, when their song'sturn arrives in the playback sequence, a copy of the song file willautomatically be sent to the host terminal and played. Thus, thepartygoer need not take any further action. When, in accordance withsome embodiments, the request and song transfer signals are communicatedbetween the host terminal and the participant terminal via a directwireless connection (e.g., an RF interface such as a Bluetoothconnection), the partygoer may simply place his or her participantterminal in a pocket or handbag. Participants may be added and removedas the procedure is executed. For example, when a participant leaves theBluetooth range, his or her songs may be deleted from or moved down theplay list.

With reference to FIG. 7, according to further embodiments of thepresent invention, mobile wireless communications terminals, methods,systems and computer program products are provided that enable selectionand playback of files according to prescribed classifications orcategories. Such mobile wireless communication terminals, methods,systems and computer program products may be employed with votingfunctionality and/or light effects functionality as described herein orindependently thereof. The mobile terminal, etc., may be configured asotherwise discussed above with reference to the mobile terminals 10A-Ewith suitable modifications to the song management module(s) 40 of themobile terminals 10A-E to enable the mobile terminals 10A-E to functionas described herein.

A method for selecting and playing back a song file using mobilewireless communications terminals (e.g., the mobile terminals 10A-E)according to some embodiments of the present invention will now bedescribed with reference to FIG. 7. The method includes establishing awireless connection between a he t wireless communication terminal andat least one participant wireless communication terminal (Block 310).The host terminal receives from the at least one participant terminal anidentification of a song file that is stored on the at least oneparticipant terminal and also has a metadata tag associated therewiththat indicates the song file (with may be referred to a “compliant songfile”) is classified in a prescribed song file category (Block 312). Thehost terminal thereafter executes playback of the compliant song file(Block 314).

The various method steps and operations as described herein forselecting and playing back compliant song files may be enabled andexecuted by the suitably configured controller 30 and song managementmodule 40 of the implementing mobile terminal(s) 10A-E.

According to some embodiments, the host terminal establishes a wirelessconnection with a plurality of participant wireless communicationterminals, requests identification of compliant songs from the pluralityof participant terminals, and executes playback of one or more of thecompliant songs on the plurality of participant terminals.

According to some embodiments, the wireless connections is/are directwireless communication interface connections, according to someembodiments, direct RF connections and, according to some embodiments,Bluetooth connections, as described herein. According to someembodiments, all of the signals provided between the host terminal andthe participant terminal(s) to execute the compliant song identificationprocedure are provided via direct wireless RF interfaces such asBluetooth interfaces. Similarly, according to some embodiments, theexecution of playback of the compliant song files is accomplished bytransferring the song files via direct wireless RF connections such asBluetooth. More particularly, the communications between the terminalsand song file transfers may be executed using the various apparatusmethods and techniques described above with regard to the playlistmanagement and playback function.

According to more particular embodiments, a host terminal 10A isdesignated and the controller 30 of the host terminal 10A establisheswireless connections with one or more participant terminals such as theparticipant terminals 10B-E as described above. At least some of theparticipant terminals 10B-E have song files stored thereon. At leastsome of the participant song files include metadata tags assignedthereto. The metadata tag or tags correspond to some aspect of theassociated song file by which the song file may be classified orcategorized. Examples of aspects of song files and metadata tags areprovided below.

The host terminal 10A selects or designates a song file category forplayback. The designated category corresponds with a metadata tag ortags. The host terminal 10A sends a message to the participant terminals10B-E requesting an identification of the song files on the participantterminals 10B-E that have the designated metadata tag associatedtherewith (i.e., the compliant song files).

The participant terminals 10B-E send response messages to the hostterminal 10A each including a respective listing of song files stored onthe respective responding participant terminal having the prescribedmetadata tag. According to some embodiments, the participant can modifythe reply list to include only a compliant song file or files that theparticipant wishes to offer.

The host terminal 10A selects or is used by the host to select acompliant song file from the compliant song file identificationsreceived from the participant terminals 10B-E. The host terminal 10A mayselect the song file manually or according to further criteria (e.g.,using the voting functionality described hereinbelow), for example. Theselected song file may be added to a play list on the host terminal 10Aif one is maintained.

The host terminal 10A then executes playback of the selected compliantsong. The host terminal 10A may execute playback by any suitable methodas those disclosed herein above with regard to the voting function.According to some embodiments, the host terminal 10A retrieves and playsthe selected song file on its own speaker 24 and/or the host terminal10A retrieves and distributes the selected compliant song file forplayback on one or more of the participant terminals 10B-E and/or themedia center 130, for example. According to some embodiments, the hostterminal 10A distributes the compliant song file for simultaneous (and,optionally, synchronized) playback on a plurality of the participantterminals 10B-E. Additionally or alternatively, the host terminal 10Amay instruct the participant terminal on which the selected song file isstored to play the selected song file and/or distribute the selectedsong file to another device (e.g., the other mobile terminals and/or themedia center) for playback.

The host terminal 10A may request and/or accept song catalog listingsfrom one or more participant terminals as discussed above. According tosome embodiments, the song catalog listings include metadata tag data.The song file catalogs may include compliant and non-compliant songfiles. According to some embodiments, the host terminal controller 30searches the received song catalogs to identify and list the compliantsong files. The host terminal 10A may thereafter select a compliant songfile for playback as described herein.

The metadata tag may take any suitable form and may be associated withthe song files in any suitable manner. For example, the metadata tagscan be embedded in, attached to or assigned to the song files by theoriginator of the song file (e.g., a party or entity such as a musicmedia vendor which constructed or configured the song file prior todistribution of the song file to the participant terminal). The metadatatag may be assigned to the song file by the participant (e.g., using theparticipant terminal or otherwise).

As discussed above, the metadata tag indicates that the compliant songfile is classified in a prescribed song file category. The prescribedsong file category may be any suitable category. According to someembodiments, the metadata tag indicates that the song file includes asong of a particular genre (e.g., rock, techno, country/western,alternative country, disco, R&B, Hip Hop, World, Religious, Punk,Classical, Acoustic, Folk, etc.). According to some embodiments, themetadata tag indicates that the song file includes a song of aparticular type (e.g., mood, meditation, light music, background music,etc.). According to some embodiments, the metadata tag indicates thatthe song file includes a song for a particular occasion or event (e.g.,dance party, dinner party, birthday, wedding, graduation, etc.).According to some embodiments, the metadata tag indicates that the songfile includes a song by a specified musician or artist (e.g., thecompliant songs are all songs by The Beatles). According to someembodiments, the metadata tag indicates that the song file includes asong having a tempo in a particular range (e.g., slow, medium, fast).According to some embodiments, the metadata tag indicates that the songfile includes a song that has received or is assigned a particularcertification or rating (e.g., a “parental advisory” rating or,alternatively, a non-parental advisory rating). The metadata tag mayindicate an operational or usage status of the song file. Theoperational or usage status may be determined by the actual use of thesong file. By way of example and in accordance with some embodiments themetadata tag may indicate that a song file has previously won votes (asdiscussed herein, for example), has been played at least a prescribednumber of times previously, or has been played less than a prescribednumber of times (e.g., never been played back within a prescribedtimeframe such as the current session). Thus, for example, a play listcould be constructed of popular songs or songs that have never beenplayed.

The search and selection criteria employed to identify and selectcompliant songs for playback may be suitably modified or augmented.Multiple search or request parameters can be set. For example, the hostmay request via the host terminal 10A an identification of all songfiles having both a “dance party” metadata tag and also a “non-parentaladvisory” metadata tag. By way of further example, the host may requestvia the host terminal 10A an identification of all song files having, incombination for each song file, a metadata tag indicating the song hasnot been played back in the current session, a “disco” metadata tag, anda metadata tag indicating the song file has received votes. The searchor request parameters may indicate negative criteria, such as a requestfor all songs not having a “parental advisory rating” metadata tag.

With reference to FIG. 8 according to further embodiments of the presentinvention, mobile wireless communications terminals, methods, systemsand computer program products are provided that provide light effectscorresponding to playback of a song file. In particular, the mobileterminals, methods, systems and computer program products may providedistributed light effects. Such mobile wireless communication terminals,methods, systems, and computer program products may be employed with theplay list, metadata tag, voting or other functionality as describedherein or independently thereof. The mobile terminal, etc., may beconfigured as otherwise described above with respect to the mobileterminals 10A-E with suitable modifications to enable the mobileterminals 10A-E to function as described herein.

A method for providing light effects on at least one participantwireless communication terminal and in correspondence with playback of asong file according to some embodiments of the present invention willnow be described with reference to FIG. 8. The method includesestablishing a wireless connection between a host wireless communicationterminal and at least one participant wireless communication terminal(Block 410). The host wireless communication terminal sends at least onelight effect signal to the at least one participant wirelesscommunication terminal instructing the at least one participant wirelesscommunication terminal to control at least one lighting device of the atleast on participant wireless communication terminal in correspondencewith playback of a song file (Block 412). The various method steps andoperations as described herein for providing light effects may beenabled and executed by the suitably configured controller 30 and thelight effects management module 44 (FIG. 1) of the implementing mobileterminals.

According to some embodiments, the host terminal establishes a wirelessconnection with a plurality of participant wireless communicationterminals, and sends light effect signals to each of the plurality ofparticipant terminals.

According to some embodiments, the wireless connection is/are directwireless communication interface connections, according to someembodiments, direct RF connections and, according to some embodiments,Bluetooth connections, as described herein. According to someembodiments, all of the signals provided between the host terminal andthe participant terminal(s) to execute the light effects thereon areprovided via direct wireless RF interfaces such as Bluetooth interfaces.Similarly, according to some embodiments, the execution of playback ofthe song files is accomplished by transferring the song files via directwireless RF connections such as Bluetooth. More particularly, thecommunications between the terminals and song file transfers may beexecuted using the various apparatus methods and techniques describedabove with regard to the playlist management and playback function.

According to more particular embodiments and with reference to FIG. 9,there may be provided a system 400 including a host wirelesscommunication terminal such as the mobile terminal 10A and one or moreparticipant wireless communications terminals such as the mobileterminals 10B-E each having a respective lighting device or devices 50.According to some embodiments, multiple participant wirelesscommunication terminals 10B-E are employed each having lighting devices50. The host wireless communication terminal 10A may likewise include alighting device 50. With reference to FIG. 1, each such lighting device50 inc¹ides light source 52 and a light control 54 and is configured toselectively provide two different, mutually distinguishable lightstates. The light source 52 may include a suitable light source such asa light emitting diode (LED), a liquid crystal display (LCD), anincandescent lamp, or a phosphorescent material. For example, accordingto some embodiments, the light sources 52 include keypad LEDs and/or LCDdisplays of the mobile terminals 10A-E. The light control 54 is adaptedto selectively control the lighting device 50. The light control 54 mayitself be controlled by the controller 30 or the like of the associatedterminal. The light control 54 may be an electrical switch or circuitcapable of selectively actuating and deactuating the light source 52, ora moveable element such as a shutter or a lens. The at least two lightstates may include different light intensities (including on/off orvarying (continuous or step wise) degrees of intensity) and/or differentcolors.

In use during playback of a song file from or via the host terminal 10A,the host terminal 10A sends light effect orders or signals 422, 424,426, and 428 to each of the participant terminals 10B-E, respectively.The light effect signals embody or represent light control orders orinstructions from the host terminal 10A. The light effect signals aredependent on, based on or correspond with the playback of the song file.

The participant terminals 10B-E receive the light effect signals 422,424, 426, and 428 and the respective light controls 54 of theparticipant terminals 10B-E operate the associated light sources 52 inaccordance therewith. Accordingly, the host terminal 10A governs thelight effects displayed on the participant terminals 10B-E. For example,the light effect signals 422, 424, 426, and 428 from the host terminal10A may cause the light sources 52 to turn on and off. According to someembodiments, the participant terminals 10B-E receiving the light effectsignals 422, 424, 426, and 428 and displaying the light effects alsosimultaneously playback the audio of the song file. According to someembodiments, the accompanying audio signals trigger the light effects sothat the light effects are synchronized and dependent on the audiosignals.

The host terminal may dynamically control the light effects on a givenparticipant terminal or may order or instruct the participant terminalto enter an appropriate mode after which the participant terminal's owncontroller 30 executes a corresponding light effects program. Forexample, the host terminal may send a series of light effect signalsthat directly order or cause the participant terminal to blink a lightsource 52 on and off. Alternatively, the host terminal may instruct theparticipant terminal to enter a mode wherein the participant terminal'slight effect management module 44 causes its light source 52 to blink orthe like in synchrony with the audio signal.

The light effects may be any suitable light actuation, modulation,display, etc. According to some embodiments, the light effects includeblinking or pulsing of one more light sources 52 and, according to someembodiments, blinking or pulsing of one or more LEDs. According to someembodiments, the light effects include video or animation. Inparticular, the light effects may include video or animation displayedon the participant terminal's display 20 (e.g., an LCD). The video oranimation may be generated from a video file pre-stored on theparticipant mobile terminal or a video file transmitted (e.g., streamed)from the host terminal 10A.

The host terminal 10A may also govern the distribution of light effectsacross the participant terminals 10B-E. According to some embodiments,the host terminal 10A sends different light effect signals to differentparticipant terminals. Thus, over the course of playback of a given songfile the light source 52 of the participant terminal 10B may turn on andoff at different times than the light source 52 of the participantterminal 10C, for example. The host terminal 10A may thereby cause theparticipant terminals 10B-E to simultaneously display synchronized lighteffects in dynamic patterns that differ from one another. For example,the distributed light effects on the multiple mobile terminals mayprovide a disco light effect.

According to some embodiments, the host terminal sends light effectsignals to one or more participant terminals that cause their lightingdevices to actuate (e.g., pulse on and off) in response to audiofrequencies of the song file in a first range (e.g., a high frequencyrange) and sends light effect signals to one or more other participantterminals that cause their lighting devices 50 to actuate (e.g., pulseon and off) in response to audio frequencies of the song file in asecond range (e.g., low audio frequency range) different from the firstrange.

According to some embodiments, the host terminal causes the participantterminals to playback the song file in multi-channel audio withdifferent audio channels being played on different participantterminals. For example, a first set of participant terminals (e.g., theparticipant terminals 10B and 10C) receive from the host terminal 10Aand play back a first audio channel (e.g., a left stereo channel) of thesong file, and a second set of the participant terminals (e.g., theparticipant terminals 10D and 10E) receive from the host terminal 10Aand play back a second, different audio channel (e.g., a right stereochannel) of the song file. According to some embodiments, the lighteffect signals sent to the first set of participant terminals are pairedwith or correspond to the first audio channel and the light effectsignals sent to the second set of participant terminals are paired withor correspond to the second audio channel. For example, the lightingdevices 50 of the first set of participant terminals may blink in tempoor cadence with the first audio channel while the lighting devices 50 ofthe second set of participant terminals may blink in tempo or cadencewith the second audio channel.

According to further embodiments, the multi-channel audio song fileincludes more than two audio channels and more than two separatechannels are simultaneously respectively played back on differentparticipant terminals. For example, the song file may be played back ina surround sound mode with three or more participant terminals playingdifferent channels and displaying different corresponding light effectsfrom one another.

According to some embodiments, the relative positions or locations ofthe host terminal and/or the participant terminals are determined andthe host terminal assigns the light effects to the participant terminalsin accordance with their relative locations. Any suitable techniques canbe used to distribute audio channels and determine the relative spatiallocations of the terminals. According to some embodiments, themulti-channel audio playback distribution is accomplished as describedin Applicant's European Patent Application No. 04103212.9, filed Jul. 7,2004, published as EP 1615464A1 on Jan. 11, 2006, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference. Moreover, the relativepositions of the host terminal and the participant terminals may bedetermined and utilized as described in European Patent Application No.0403312.9. Additionally, calibration may be accomplished as described inEuropean Patent Application No. 04033129 or using any other suitabletechniques to compensate for radio link delays.

According to some embodiments, the light effects coordinated or governedby the host terminal 10A include a dynamic pattern that travels frommobile terminal to mobile terminal. For example, a light source (e.g.,an LED or an LCD display) may be pulsed on each mobile terminal 10A-E inseries so that the light pulse appears to travel along (e.g., up anddown) a row of the mobile terminals 10A-E. To facilitate suchoperations, the relative spatial locations of the mobile terminals 10A-Emay be determined as discussed above and the light effects assigned tothe several mobile terminals 10A-E in accordance with their determinedpositions.

According to further embodiments, the dynamic patterned light effectsinclude video or animation displayed on multiple mobile terminals 10A-Esuch that it appears to travel from display screen 20 (e.g., LCD) todisplay screen 20 of the mobile terminals 10A-E. For example, in FIG.10A, three participant terminals 10B-D are shown having respectivedisplay screens 20 at a first point in time to provide a collective orcombined image 448A. The displays 20 are controlled such that, at alater time, the respective images 442A, 444A, 446A are replaced with newimages 442B, 444B, 446B as shown in FIG. 10B to provide a new combinedimage 448B, and, at a still later time, the images 442B, 44B, 446B arereplaced with new images 442C, 444C, 446C to provide a new combinedimage 448C (FIG. 10C) giving the appearance that the objects in thecombined images 448A, 448B, 448C have traveled over time along thedisplays 20 between the mobile terminals 10B-D. Thus, in the embodimentof Figures 10A-C, the light effects are distributed across the severalmobile terminals 10B-D in a dynamic pattern that gives the impression ofan animated person walking from display screen 20 to display screen 20of the mobile terminals 10B-D. This operation may be paired with andfacilitated by determining the relative spatial positions of the mobileterminals as discussed above.

The light effects as controlled by the host terminal may also includeuse of the screens or displays of multiple mobile terminals withoutscreen-to-screen traveling animation. For example, the screens 20 may beused as a collective screen to display a still image.

Various of the invention embodiments disclosed herein can be used withor independently of other invention embodiments as disclosed herein. Forexample, a song file or song files may be selected for playback usingthe metadata tag procedure or voting procedure described herein, withthe song files being played back one at a time without creation of asong file play list. According to some embodiments, the host terminalmay only coordinate selection of song files for playback and instructselected participant terminals to send song files (e.g., via streamingor as a complete file) to one or more playback device(s) (e.g., otherparticipant terminals, the host terminal, or the media player) or toplay the song file on the originating participant terminal only.According to some embodiments, the “host” status may shift among themobile terminals 10A-E.

The application programs described herein, including the song managementmodule 40 and the light effects management module 44, are illustrativeof programs that implement various features according to embodiments ofthe present invention. It will be appreciated that other and/oradditional application programs may be employed in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary hardware/software architecturethat may be used in mobile terminals and/or other electronic devices formanagement and playback of song files, it will be understood that thepresent invention is not limited to such a configuration but is intendedto encompass any configuration capable of carrying out operationsdescribed herein. For example, although the memory 34 is illustrated asseparate from the controller 30, the memory 34 or portions thereof maybe considered as a part of the controller 30. More generally, whileparticular functionalities are shown in particular blocks by way ofillustration, functionalities of different blocks and/or portionsthereof may be combined, divided, and/or eliminated. Moreover, thefunctionality of the hardware/software architecture of FIG. 1 may beimplemented as a single processor system or a multi-processor system inaccordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinaryskill in the art, given the benefit of present disclosure, withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it mustbe understood that the illustrated embodiments have been set forth onlyfor the purposes of example, and that it should not be taken as limitingthe invention as defined by the following claims. The following claims,therefore, are to be read to include not only the combination ofelements which are literally set forth but all equivalent elements forperforming substantially the same function in substantially the same wayto obtain substantially the same result. The claims are thus to beunderstood to include what is specifically illustrated and describedabove, what is conceptually equivalent, and also what incorporates theessential idea of the invention.

1. A mobile wireless communication terminal comprising: a wirelesscommunication module that is configured to communicate with othercommunication terminals over a wireless interface; and a controller thatis configured to establish a connection with a plurality of participantwireless communication terminals via the wireless communication module,and to send light effect signals to each of the plurality of participantwireless communication terminals instructing each of the plurality ofparticipant wireless communication terminals to control a lightingdevice thereof in correspondence with playback of the song file, whereinthe controller is configured to send light effect signals to each of theplurality of participant wireless communication terminals instructingthe plurality of participant wireless communication terminals to controlthe lighting devices thereof differently from one another.
 2. Thewireless communication terminal of claim 1 wherein the controller isconfigured to send light effect signals to each of the plurality ofparticipant wireless communication terminals so as to cause theplurality of participant wireless communication terminals to display onrespective displays thereof an image that moves over time from thedisplay of a first of the plurality of participant wirelesscommunication terminals to the display of a second of the plurality ofparticipant wireless communication terminals.
 3. The wirelesscommunication terminal of claim 1 wherein the controller is configuredto send light effect signals to each of the plurality of participantwireless communication terminals so as to cause a lighting device of afirst of the plurality of participant wireless communication terminalsto respond to audio signals in a first audio frequency range and tocause a lighting device of a second of the plurality of participantwireless communication terminals to respond to audio signals in a secondaudio frequency range different from the first audio frequency range. 4.The wireless communication terminal of claim 1 wherein the controller isconfigured to execute playback of the song file simultaneously on theplurality of participant wireless communication terminals.
 5. Thewireless communication terminal of claim 1 wherein: the wirelesscommunication module is configured to communicate with othercommunication terminals over a direct point-to-point wireless interface;and the controller is configured to establish the connection with the atleast one participant wireless communication terminal via the wirelesscommunication module via the direct point-to-point wireless interface,and to send the at least one light effect signal to the at least oneparticipant wireless communication terminal via the directpoint-to-point wireless interface.
 6. The wireless communicationterminal of claim 1 wherein the wireless communication module comprisesa Bluetooth transmitter.
 7. The wireless communication terminal of claim1 wherein the wireless communication terminal includes a cellulartelephone.